Page 33 of The Darkest Knight

CHAPTER NINE

Reese stirred and stretched her arms high above her head, then paused. Where am I? She jerked up and her gaze landed on Seth, slumped over and sleeping in the chair.

Searching her mind, she wondered how she’d gotten here. Then she remembered painting…Abby nuzzling her hand…but not a lot after that.

Lifting the blanket, she looked at her body. Fully clothed, thank God. She wouldn’t want to forget a second if she’d gotten lucky.

Hearing stirring, she looked up in time to see Seth’s eyes flutter open. “You’re awake.” His voice was husky with sleep.

“I am. Abby warned you, didn’t she?”

He nodded. “You don’t remember?”

She pulled herself to a sitting position. “A little.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so amazing.”

“As my seizure?”

He laughed. “Abby’s trained reaction.”

“She’s the best.” She scratched Abby behind the ear. “Thank you for helping. Some episodes are worse than others. How long have I been asleep?”

“A couple of hours. I should have never let you do all the work on the cabin.” He tore a hand through his hair.

“Really? You should know I don’t need a man to ‘let’ me do anything.” She crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her chin.

“Did the work contribute to you having an episode?” He lifted a brow.

“I’ve had seizures while I was watching TV. Getting out of the shower. One never knows when they’ll strike, and therefore, why it’s important that service dogs are utilized for seizure patients.”

He nodded. “Well, don’t feel like you have to rush picking up the paintbrush again.”

“Seth, understand that I haven’t been this happy in a long time. This is what I’ve hoped for and being a part of seeing this dream into completion is a wonderful thing. I have no plan of sitting back and watching. If you haven’t noticed yet, I’m not much of a watcher. I’m a doer.”

His jaw tightened. “I wouldn’t want to change that.” A buzzing noise sounded from his pocket. He reached in and grabbed his phone. “I should take this.”

“Sure.” She watched him leave the room and she realized, without a doubt, he looked as good going as he did coming. The man didn’t have a bad side.

He came back and his irritation couldn’t be ignored. “Is everything okay?”

“That was Gage. They’ve run into a problem with one of the cabins. I told them I’d handle it later.”

“No, Seth. This isn’t something to put off. You should go and take care of the emergency. Otherwise, we’ll get behind.”

One corner of his mouth lifted. “Will you be okay?”

As if to prove a point, she threw back the covers and dropped her feet to the floor. “I feel fine. I’ll splash my face, grab some water, and I’ll be out of here.”

His hesitation made her wonder if he’d disagree, but instead he nodded. “Okay, but why don’t you take the rest of the day off?”

“There you are again, treating me like a girl.” She laughed.

“You are a girl.”

“Not when it comes to work.”

He scratched his jaw. “I’m here to tell you that no matter how hard you try, you’ll never be one of the guys.”

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